Seriously, though, a ten-year-old picture isn't a terribly good ID photo even for normal people.
Posted on 10/19/2005 9:20:31 AM PDT by Pikamax
ATLANTA - Comparing Georgia's new voting law to a poll tax, a federal judge has blocked the state from requiring voters to show photo identification to participate in elections.
In a 123-page ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Harold Murphy in Rome said the law is an undue burden on voting rights and is not tailored narrowly enough to serve its stated purpose of preventing voter fraud.
Requiring voters "to purchase a photo ID card effectively places a cost on the right to vote," he said, adding that it is the equivalent of a poll tax and is unconstitutional.
The law "is most likely to prevent Georgia's elderly, poor and African-American voters from voting. For those citizens, the character and magnitude of their injury - the loss of their right to vote - is undeniably demoralizing and extreme," the judge wrote.
The preliminary injunction prevents the law from being enforced until a lawsuit filed by voter and civil rights groups challenging the measure is fully heard by the court. As a result, municipal and bond elections set throughout the state for Nov. 8 most likely will be held without photo IDs required at the polls.
Supporters of the law vowed to challenge the ruling, with House Speaker Glenn Richardson, R-Hiram, blasting "a Jimmy Carter-appointed judge" for "thwarting the best interests of the people of this state."
The decision to appeal rests with Attorney General Thurbert Baker. A spokesman said the ruling was under review.
So far, the voter ID requirement has only applied to several local special elections.
The Republican-backed measure heightened racial tensions during the legislative session.
Most of Georgia's black lawmakers walked out of the Capitol when it passed in March, some loudly singing a civil rights-era protest song. The widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King, called on the governor to veto the bill.
Democrats argued the measure was a political move by the GOP to depress voting among minorities, the elderly and the poor - all traditional bases for Democrats. Its opponents include the AARP, League of Women Voters, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The U.S. Justice Department approved the law in August, saying that while Attorney General Alberto Gonzales didn't object to the state's voter ID requirement, the federal agency's approval didn't preclude lawsuits against it.
The law eliminates formerly accepted forms of voter identification, such as Social Security cards, birth certificates or utility bills.
Gov. Sonny Perdue and other Republicans who pushed for the law say the aim is to prevent voter fraud, not to make it more difficult to vote. The governor said state IDs would be given free to people who couldn't afford the fee. "It will not be a hardship on any voter," Perdue said when he signed the measure in April.
Murphy didn't buy that argument in his order Tuesday, holding that the state isn't taking sufficient steps to make photo IDs available to those who can't afford them. The cost is $20 for a five-year state photo ID card or $35 for a 10-year ID.
Perdue called Tuesday's ruling a preliminary step in a long process. He said state lawmakers, the Department of Justice "and the vast majority of Georgia citizens agree that requiring photographic identification to vote is an appropriate and common sense approach to ensure voter integrity and sound elections in our state."
Sen. Cecil Staton, R-Macon, the bill's sponsor, said he was "obviously disappointed" but added, "I am confident that when further testimony and evidence is heard, the photo ID bill will be ultimately upheld."
Civil rights leaders like the Rev. Joseph Lowery hailed the ruling as "a breath of fresh air." He added, "We believe that this affirms our notion that this legislation infringes on our constitutional rights."
Nineteen states require voters to show identification, but only five request photo ID, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Those states - Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina and South Dakota - allow voters without a photo ID to use other forms of identification or sign an affidavit of identity.
What he really means is that VOTER FRAUD IS FREE
Easy. Just change the law to make IDs free for the indigent.
They already are. The judge is just making stuff up to justify the pro-fraud ruling.
Time to start impeaching judges.
(Denny Crane: "Gun Control? For Communists. She's A Liberal. Can't Hunt.")
This one line and the title is all you need to know about the whole story.
"The cost is $20 for a five-year state photo ID card or $35 for a 10-year ID."
Why is there a time limit? Do you morph into someone else every few years?
Revenue, m'friend, revenue.
Born 1927 in Haralson County, GA
Federal Judicial Service:
U. S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia
Nominated by Jimmy Carter on July 7, 1977,
to a seat vacated by James C. Hill; Confirmed by the Senate on July 28, 1977, and received commission on July 29, 1977.
Education: University of Georgia School of Law, LL.B., 1949
Professional Career:
U.S. Navy, 1945-1946
Private practice, Buchanan, Georgia, 1949-1958
Private practice, Buchanan and Tallapoosa, Georgia, 1958-1971
Georgia state representative, 1951-1961
Assistant state solicitor general, Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit, Georgia, 1956
Superior court judge, Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit, Georgia, 1971-1977
Race or Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Another of peanut Jimmy's legacy.
In my last license I had black hair, now it's grey. I got turned down for a beer at The Boston Garden because I looked older than the guy in the picture.
"They already are. The judge is just making stuff up to justify the pro-fraud ruling."
I also read somewhere on FR that they will also deliver them to those who don't have the means to pick up their free cards. Judge's ruling = BS.
Expensive? Maybe.But worth it!
The one slim thread of merit to the judge's rationale is that poll taxes are prohibited across the board, without regard to them being low and/or means-tested.
The state might have to abolish the fee for getting a license or photo ID card for everyone, not just the indigent, in order to close this loophole. (Administrative restrictions on quantity in order to prevent clows from demanding whole stacks of them should pass consitutional muster -- you only need one copy to vote, after all.)
Oh boy, that comes to less than ONE PENNY per day! How will they eat after incurring such expense??
I keep wondering what's the matter with the blue-inked finger idea...at least you can't vote twice.
One would think a judge would not be so STUPID as to be unaware that the state ID is free to those who can't afford it, and the state will even come to you if you can't make it to them. One would hope a judge would realize this is only to prevent voter fraud by not permitting voting under every alias name or votes from the cemetary. One might even think a judge would be above partisan BS, but no, this is Georgia, and any group stupid enough to elect Cynthia McKinny to office could only do it by fraudulent means. If disenfranchised means one vote per person, then let's disenfranchise everybody.
Seriously, though, a ten-year-old picture isn't a terribly good ID photo even for normal people.
You do know that the vast majority or voters don't have the means or desire to become the freak michael jackdon did.
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